HUNTER DOSTER, ET AL. v. HON. FRANK KENDALL, IN HIS OFFICIAL CAPACITY AS SECRETARY OF THE AIR FORCE, ET AL. - Articles

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HUNTER DOSTER, ET AL. v. HON. FRANK KENDALL, IN HIS OFFICIAL CAPACITY AS SECRETARY OF THE AIR FORCE, ET AL.

Posted by: Karen Belcher on Sep 9, 2022

Court: 6th Circuit Court (Published Opinions)

Attorneys 1: ON MOTION FOR EMERGENCY STAY AND REPLY: Anna O. Mohan, Casen B. Ross, UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE, Washington, D.C., for Appellants.

Attorneys 2: ON RESPONSE: Christopher Wiest, CHRIS WIEST, ATTORNEY AT LAW, PLLC, Crestview Hills, Kentucky, Wendy Cox, SIRI AND GLIMSTAD LLP, New York, New York, Thomas B. Bruns, BRUNS CONNELL VOLLMAR & ARMSTRONG, Cincinnati, Ohio, for Appellees.

Judge(s): KETHLEDGE, BUSH, and MURPHY, Circuit Judges

Court Appealed: United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio at Cincinnati

KETHLEDGE, Circuit Judge. In this case the plaintiffs allege that the Department of the Air Force de facto rejects every request it receives for a religious exemption to its COVID-19 vaccine mandate—while granting requests for medical and administrative exemptions relatively freely. The district court preliminarily enjoined the Department from taking, during the pendency of this suit, certain punitive measures against a class of service members with sincere faith-based objections to receiving the vaccine. The Department has appealed that order and now moves for an emergency stay of the class-wide injunction, challenging for the most part the district court’s reasoning in certifying the class. We deny the Department’s motion but expedite our consideration of its appeal.

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